Save Me Please
by Juliet'sReplacement
Summary: Some silver-haired freak - Kadaj - kidnaps Tifa. OMG, what is Cloud gonna do? I got bored, so I wrote a real quick thing and separated it... I mean REALLY quick. *COMPLETED*
1. Chapter 1

Tifa serenely wiped off the bar with the cloth, using her free hand to brush her dark brown hair out of her eyes. She was grateful that all the people were finally gone.

"Denzel, can you change the sign on the door, please?" she called to the boy as he was coming down the stairs.

"Sure, Tifa."

"Thanks."

Denzel went back upstairs then, and Tifa sighed, glancing towards the locked door for what must have been the hundredth time. Cloud was usually home by now. Where was he? Sighing again, Tifa quickly swept the bar's floor, but after that she was out of things to do. Out of things to distract her from Cloud's not being there.

Suddenly, the sound of the door opening made her turn around again. But she was surprised. She had locked the door, knowing Cloud to have a key.

But the man that walked into the bar wasn't Cloud.

It was a man with silver hair that fell just down below his chin, and he had- as odd as this sounded to Tifa- jade green eyes with slit pupils, like a snake's. He was dressed all in black with long sleeves and shoulder guards. Tifa's eyes narrowed, and she turned warily. This man gave off a sort of... aura. It was dark. But... she thought, maybe, if he wasn't so damn creepy, she might have liked him. But that was a pretty big 'might'.

Bottom line, Tifa _didn't _like him.

"The bar's closed," she said flatly. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes," said the man. His voice was smooth, quiet. Tifa didn't like that, either. Suddenly, before she could even draw breath, the man was only a foot away from her. His hand came down by her head, and she felt a horrible pain behind her right ear. She was barely aware of falling, causing a crash of some sort.

Then her vision faded to blackness.

Cloud wordlessly used his key to unlock the door to the bar.

Only to discover, of course, that it was already unlocked. Cloud frowned. Usually, Tifa wasn't so careless.

Shaking his head slightly, he stepped into the bar. The bar was clean, the floor was swept, the glasses were sitting out to dry, still. But two of the chairs had been knocked over. Cloud's frown deepened. What was up with Tifa? She usually cleaned everything, made sure everything was impeccable, and locked the door.

Then the blonde warrior noticed a slip of paper laying on top of the bar. Assuming it was from Tifa, he sauntered over, picking it up.

Brother  
>It is truly wonderful to know you are well.<br>If you would honestly like the girl back, I'm afraid  
>you're going to have to find her yourself. And by the<br>way, she's asking for you. Or, begging might be a  
>more appropriate term.<p>

Kadaj

Cloud froze. Kadaj had Tifa. With a quick movement, Cloud dialed Barrett's number into his small cellphone, paying no mind of the time.

"Barrett. Can you watch Marlene and Denzel for a while?"

_I guess, Spikey. How long is 'a while'?_

"Don't know."

_Well, where you goin'?_

"Out."

_I'll be there in a few minutes, then. _

"Door will be unlocked," finished Cloud in a clipped tone, snapping his phone shut and racing outside, Kadaj's note crumpled in his fist. He was on Fenrir and gone in a matter of seconds, racing down the streets outside of _Seventh Heaven._ There was one thought running through Cloud's mind, repeating itself again and again and again.

_Find Tifa. Get her home. Find Tifa. Get her home. _

_Find Tifa._


	2. Chapter 2

Judging by the damage done to this part of Midgar, Cloud had no doubt that Kadaj had been here. There were a few smaller buildings that had been almost completely demolished, as well as severe damage to others. Mutely, Cloud got back on his Fenrir, bringing it to life and then speeding down the half-destroyed street.

_Find Tifa. Get her home. Find Tifa. Get her home._

These thoughts ran through the blonde warrior's head over and over again, and his cerulean blue eyes narrowed as the wind split around him. This... feeling, it was unfamiliar, to say the least. But... he'd felt something similar to it before, when Tifa was in trouble. But... not of this magnitude.

This time, it was personal.

Cloud raced down the road, following the trail of destruction. It was a sick way to tell where Kadaj was, but it worked. He didn't slow as the faint light of dawn rose up and over the buildings of Midgar, up on the surface, but continued his hunt for Kadaj. He would find him. And he would kill him. He would get Tifa home safely.

_Find Tifa. Get her home. Find Tifa. Get her home._

Tifa blearily opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was in a room, on a concrete floor, with one door and no windows. The second thing was that her mouth was clamped shut with a piece of duct tape. She blinked, trying to remember exactly what had happened. Her head hurt so badly...

She had been in the bar... cleaning up, everyone had left... closed the door, locked it... and... what next?

Suddenly, the door opened, and a man strode in, calm as could be.

Of course.

"I see you're awake," the man said smoothly, squatting down just out of what would be arm's reach, save for the fact that Tifa's hands were tied behind her back. She let out a stream of muffled sounds that, to anyone's ears, weren't compliments. The silver-haired young man just smiled. But it wasn't a kind smile. It was the, 'if you don't shut the hell up right now I'm going to kill you' smile. As it was, his booted right foot shot out, catching Tifa's ribs. A sharp crack was heard, and she doubled up where she lay on the floor, a soft moan escaping her.

"So far, things have gone quite smoothly," continued the man evenly, his jade-colored snake eyes glinting dangerously, though his face remained mild. "I do hope that your boyfriend shows up on time. It would be a shame if he didn't."

Tifa's reddish-brown eyes widened above the duct tape. This man was planning to _kill_ her if Cloud didn't show up? But... _she_ didn't even have any indication of where she was! If she had no clue, how was Cloud supposed to find her?

Abruptly, she swung her legs around, trying to scythe the man's out from under him. They encountered no resistance, however, and Tifa held back another groan as she felt an icy cold hand around her right wrist from behind. Suddenly, there was a jerk and another crack was audible. It took less than a heartbeat for the nerve receptors in her brain to register the pain, but as soon as it did Tifa thrashed, not letting herself make a sound this time. But then the man stomped on her left leg, and another ringing crack filled the room. Tifa's wine-colored eyes went wide, and her vision tinted gray at the edges.

_Please hurry, Cloud,_ Tifa pleaded silently, trying to take small breaths through her nose. Everything hurt. Her ribs, her head, her right arm, her leg... She glared daggers at the silver-haired man as he stood calmly, turning and leaving the room. All she could see beyond him through the door was a hallway, then it was shut.

Tifa closed her eyes miserably, her head falling sideways to rest on the concrete floor.

_Please, Cloud. Please hurry._


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud found the little building around noon. It was at the end of the trail of destruction, and all around it there was nothing but desert.

Yep. This was the place.

Hatred for Kadaj welled up in the blonde man's heart, and he gritted his teeth, reaching back with his right arm and pulling out his huge sword. Time for Kadaj to die. He had dared to even go near Tifa, and in Cloud's mind, that was crossing the line. He stalked up to the stainless steel door, and almost lazily kicked it in. It went crashing down the hall to the opposite wall, nearly thirty feet away. The entire place seemed to have metal doors and concrete walls, floors, and ceilings. Which really didn't surprise Cloud all that much.

He checked every door, with each room hoping to find Tifa, or, better yet, Kadaj. He was ready to kill the damned traitor.

It was the last door, at the end of the hall on Cloud's right. If she wasn't in here...

His black-gloved hand reached forward slowly, and he turned the handle. The room was dark, but his pure blue eyes missed nothing. He saw a slumped figure on the floor, with dark brown, almost black hair pooled around where the head should be.

"Tifa!"

Cloud raced forward, grabbing her by her shoulders. Her eyes slowly flickered open, and he quickly stripped the silver duct tape off her mouth. "Tifa, are you alright?"

"Cloud," she murmured, but her wine-colored eyes were still unfocused, like she couldn't see him. She had dried blood on one side of her head, and she held her arm awkwardly against her. "You're here," she said, her voice faint. "You came." Tifa didn't appear to see Cloud at all.

"Yes. Come on, let's get you home." Cloud carefully lifted her up, but when he tried to set her to stand she collapsed again, letting out a faint whimper. Her left leg wouldn't support her weight, he saw with a surge of anger for Kadaj. Frowning, Cloud suddenly lifted her up with one arm, and her head lolled against his shoulder.

"You came," she repeated weakly. "Where were you, Cloud?" Turning his head slightly, the blonde warrior noticed that her gaze was still unfocused.

Suddenly, as Cloud turned down the hallway, there was a silver-haired figure standing about halfway down.

"Brother," purred Kadaj, his snake eyes gleaming. This voice seemed to register with Tifa- her wine-colored eyes went wide, and Cloud could almost feel her trembling. What had this man done to her?

Wordlessly, Cloud bent, sitting Tifa up against one of the walls, behind him. Then he turned to Kadaj, his cerulean eyes snapping electric blue fire under the golden hair. And now he spoke to Kadaj for the first- and what he hoped was the last- time.

"You. Bastard."


	4. Chapter 4

Tifa's vision came vaguely back into focus. She heard a curse from the golden-haired figure between her and the man with jade snake eyes, then the huge sword was out and the two were flying at each other in the wider-than-normal hallway. She blinked, and with her good hand brushed her near-black bangs out of her face.

Tifa could see the other man's tactic was to draw Cloud out, away from her, probably so he could put Cloud in a position where he couldn't do anything.

She wasn't going to give him that chance.

Tifa managed to struggle to her feet, leaning heavily on the wall. Only her right foot and left arm could support her, and it was painful to breathe. But she had to force her brain to continue working, noticing how... _attractive_ Cloud was when he was fighting. His blonde hair swayed slightly around his face when he dodged one way or the other, and his gorgeous blue eyes were narrowed in concentration as he blocked every one of the silver-haired man's attacks with his huge sword. Tifa suddenly swayed, and she tried to keep herself upright.

"I'm gonna kill you, Kadaj!" Cloud suddenly screamed, his face transforming into a feral snarl, his cerulean blue eyes snapping with something Tifa could only describe as pure fury. She had seen Cloud determined. She had seen him angry and upset. But this was different. Tifa couldn't see the silver-haired man winning this fight, simply because she couldn't see anyone surviving Cloud when he was like that.

"But Brother," whispered the man, "Mother wants you back."

"I- don't- give- a- damn!" shouted Cloud, raining a series of blows on the other in quick succession.

Tifa remained leaning heavily on the concrete wall, watching in wonder, amazement, and something close to fear at how fast the two men moved. The snake-eyed man moved like lightning, and Tifa was scarcely able to keep track of where he was.

But Cloud was faster.

He moved even quicker than the man with jade-colored snake eyes, dodging hits and returning them. After a few minutes, Tifa gave up trying to keep up with the speed, and simply kept an eye on Cloud to see if he ever got any injuries.

He didn't, much to her relief.

Then out of nowhere, Cloud flipped, sweeping his huge sword to the side. It whipped by the silver-haired man, and the tip became buried in the concrete wall. Everything froze for a second.

It took Tifa a moment to realize that it wasn't just Cloud that had become still. It was the snake-eyed man, too.

His body toppled to the ground- first one half, then the other.

Tifa blinked. Cloud stood there, facing her, head bowed. His golden hair shaded his face, and she couldn't see his expression. Reaching up with his left hand, he tugged the blade loose of the wall, and wordlessly, painfully slowly walked to Tifa. Still saying nothing, Cloud slipped his right arm around her waist while his left hand slid the huge sword into its sheath on his back, and tugged her left wrist over his shoulders.

"You okay?"

The words were unexpected- Tifa paused for a minute, actually thinking her answer over.

"I... I think I'm fine- I _will_ be fine," she amended quietly, looking over at his face, so close now to her own. "You came," she added softly, pulling her free hand from around his shoulders to brush a few locks of golden hair out of his face. His cerulean eyes were fixated on her, watchful, wary. Cloud just gave a tiny nod, barely there.

"I came."

"Thank you," Tifa whispered, but then her vision swam. Her good arm fell, and her head rolled back onto his shoulder. Her vision tinted gray at the edges again, and all of a sudden, her injuries hurt even worse, throbbing with her heartbeat. "I... I feel like I'm floating in clouds," Tifa said faintly, suddenly feeling lightheaded. At almost any other point, she would have laughed at the statement as an unintentional pun. But not now.

"Home," Cloud said briefly, suddenly pulling her up to awkwardly carry her. One of his arms was behind her upper back and shoulderblades, and his other went around under her knees. Tifa's head fell back, her eyes unfocused again.

"Home," she echoed weakly, her head rolling against Cloud's right shoulder. "Home."


	5. Chapter 5

Cloud somehow managed to get Tifa home on Fenrir without crashing, which was impressive, even for him. He didn't know the full extent of her injuries- but a healing materia should take care of most of them, at least. He knew she had a fractured or broken right arm, a broken left leg, and either badly bruised or broken a rib or two. Not to mention that at some point, she had taken a heavy blow behind her right ear.

Cloud half wished Kadaj was still alive so he could kill him again.

He walked into the bar in the late morning, and found Barrett, Denzel, and Marlene all at the counter, laughing and eating breakfast. Marlene turned with a big smile for Tifa-

But it was gone before it could even reach her face. Her mouth hung slightly open as she stared at Cloud, carrying a really battered Tifa in his arms.

"What happened to her?" questioned Denzel, hurrying over to Tifa.

"I'd sure as hell like to know, too," commented Barrett angrily. "Get that girl upstairs and Marlene, see if you can get her cleaned up."

Cloud mutely walked up the stairs with Tifa, and gingerly lay her on her bed, and turned to see Marlene had followed him into the room. Her face looked determined, but as she started to approach Tifa Cloud held her back.

"Materia," he explained quietly, opening his hand to reveal one of the healing materia he had gotten. Marlene nodded, still eyeing her sister worriedly, and Cloud kneeled down beside Tifa's head, gently running the tendrils of green over the places where she was hurt. First her head, then her ribs and her right wrist, and her left leg.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Marlene asked Cloud worriedly. "Shouldn't she be waking up? You did heal her, right? So she's going to wake up? When will she wake up? Why isn't she awake now?"

Cloud held up a gloved hand to stem the flow of questions, and said quietly, "She's been through a lot in the past day. She needs rest for now."

Marlene nodded nervously, then said, "I'm going to go tell Barrett and Denzel." After she had dashed downstairs, Cloud looked at Tifa, curled on her side on the bed. Her side seemed to be rising and falling more evenly, at least, and she was a little more relaxed. Cloud briefly used a gloved finger to push a strand of dark brown hair out of Tifa's face, but blinked when her hand reached up, winding around his. Even in sleep, Tifa pulled Cloud's leather gloved hand down to her chin, hanging on to it. Her face relaxed some then, and Cloud felt the corners of his mouth twitch slightly.

Using his foot to hook a chair, he pulled it over, sitting next to Tifa's head, letting her hold onto his hand. He didn't know if Marlene or Denzel or Barrett ever came back up, partly because he fell asleep. He was leaned over, his head resting on his free arm on the corner of the mattress, his other hand still in Tifa's grip when he let that gentle blackness take him with no dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

Tifa opened her eyes to find a mess of golden hair two inches from her nose.

Hardly daring to move, she let her other senses explore, trying to figure out what had happened. Her hands were around one with a black leather glove on it, and hand pulled it to that little hollow area under her chin. It was a warm hand, even through the glove. The figure with blonde hair in front of her was asleep, and his other arm was slightly pressing against the top of Tifa's head. The head lay on this arm. None of her injuries hurt any more, so Tifa assumed that someone had gotten around to healing her. But it was dark outside the window...

Tifa's nose twitched delicately as a piece of the sun-colored hair in front of her face tickled her nose, and her wine-colored eyes widened suddenly as she realized a sneeze was coming. Her breath hitched slightly, but she bit her tongue hard enough to prevent it. Her breath came out in a long, slow exhale, and she blinked slowly, still trying to make sense of the blonde hair.

Oh no.

Tifa's eyes flicked down to the hand in her grasp. Then up to the hair. Then to the muscular, bare arm above her head. And the navy and black clothing the figure wore.

Oh, crap.

Cloud.

Tifa bit her lip, hoping she hadn't talked in her sleep or anything and said anything embarrassing. That would be really bad.

"Um... Cloud?" she breathed tentatively, not daring to move.

The blonde head shifted slightly, but other than that didn't do a thing. Tifa tried again.

"Cloud? Are... are you awake?"

This time, the head did lift up, bringing both Cloud and Tifa nose-to-nose, cerulean blue into reddish-brown.

Neither said anything. Then Cloud sat up, his other arm going back with him. But he left the hand that Tifa had where it was. She uncertainly released it, and that was pulled back too.

"Thanks," she murmured, lowering her gaze. Had he been there the whole time? She knew that he had come to get her at roughly dawn, if she could remember correctly, and it was night now... had she slept through the whole day? "Marlene and Denzel?" she questioned softly, blinking.

"Sleeping."

"The man?"

"Dead."

Of course. Tifa should have expected that one. She hesitated, then continued.

"...You?"

"Fine."

"...And... me?"

"You tell me."

Cloud's even gaze met Tifa's, but the pure blue made her start to melt. She searched for something to say, but could find nothing. She closed her mouth again, lowering her eyes. What she hadn't expected was Cloud's fingers pulling it back to look at her once more before releasing her face.

"Tifa." She looked up at him, startled.

"Yes?"

"No one. Will ever touch you. Again." Cloud's voice was deceptively calm, but Tifa knew enough about it to tell that he was livid. His blue eyes snapped with hidden fire, but... it made her feel safe. Protected.

Even when she sometimes didn't need it.

Cloud would protect her and her family, always and forever, she knew. Until his heart stopped beating, and maybe even then.


	7. Chapter 7

A few days after that, Tifa was up and about again. Marlene and Denzel wouldn't let her out of her sight, but then, neither did Cloud.

Although, Tifa didn't really mind that part so much.

One evening, she had closed up the bar, and heard the faintest footsteps on the stairs. She smiled to herself, knowing it was either Marlene or Denzel- more likely Marlene- coming to say good night. Tifa turned, ready with a smile for her little sister.

But it wasn't Marlene.

"Oh- Cloud!" she said in surprise, blinking as she found her nose nearly buried in his shirt. She took a hasty step back, doing her best to stop a blush from spreading across her cheeks. Cloud merely watched her, his cerulean eyes inscrutable. "Is there something you want?"

"Yes," he said quietly, his eyes boring into hers. Tifa couldn't say anything in response, partly because she didn't want to and partly because she just _couldn't._ Her brain was starting to shut down in that deep, amazing blue...

Cloud took a step forward, putting Tifa between the counter and him. She merely returned his gaze, but was a bit dazzled, she had to admit. Cloud's hands rested on the edge of the counter on either side of Tifa, and neither said anything about how close they were physically. The very ends of Cloud's hair gently brushed Tifa's face, and the tips of their noses barely touched.

"What are you thinking?" he murmured unexpectedly, his voice almost inaudible. Tifa couldn't respond.

Suddenly, Cloud closed the distance between their faces, covering her mouth with his. Tifa made a small sound of surprise, and Cloud used the parting of her lips to deepen the kiss. Tifa's eyes slowly drifted shut, and her slim hands made their way up around his neck, tangling in his golden hair. His hands clenched on the countertop tightly, and any observer might have worried about him leaving dents. But there were no observers. Cloud and Tifa stayed locked together for no one knew how long, and when they parted, Tifa attempted in vain to put her scrambled thoughts together. Cloud appeared to be having the same problem, but his cerulean eyes shone with a new light. One that Tifa hadn't seen in a long, long time, and had thought she never would again. She loved it. She loved him. She loved everything about him.

Cloud almost automatically let his arms snake around Tifa's waist, holding her even closer to him. The smallest of smiles touched his face, and he rested his forehead against hers.

"I'm glad you're safe," he whispered.

"Alright, pay up!" insisted Marlene, holding her bare hand out to Denzel. "I told you he would kiss her."

"Aww, Marlene," Denzel groaned, digging around in his pocket for the small amount of money he and Marlene had bet with.

"Come on, hurry up before they come upstairs!"

"Here," Denzel muttered, slapping a couple coins into his sister's hand. "You happy? He did it."

"I'm just happy I beat you out," said Marlene cheerfully, dragging him back to the room they shared.


End file.
